Railway-tie.



11. L. HOLLIS.

RAILWAY TIE.'

' APPLICATION FILED JULY25,1910 1,076,577, Patented Oct. 21, 1913.

- 14 W 13 14 15 17 [8 g d/110.1 11

Wlfifisss I IHVEHID-T H2111" LtHullls ATITJTRE E' HENRY L. HOLLIS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

RAILWAY-TIE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 21, 1913.

Application filed July 25, 1910. Serial No. 573,671.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY L. Hours, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Railway-Tics, of

. which the following is a full, clear, concise,

and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

My invention relates to railway ties and has for its object the provision of a tie of comparatively small first cost, one which will be eflicient in service and in which the parts subjected to wear can readily be replaced at but little expense.

One of the particular improvements of my invention relates to the means for preventing lateral displacement of-the rails and for preventing the rails from becoming loose with respect to the ties to which they are supposed to be fastened. In accordance with my invention I provide a tie plank upon which a wooden rail block is mounted near either end. Across the upper surface of each rail block there is a groove adapted to receive the flange of the rail. The rail block having been laid in position upon the tie plank and the flange of the rail having been laid in the groove of the rail block, screw spikes are screwed through the rail block and into the tie plank in positions such that the flanges of the screw spikes engage the edges of the rail flange to clamp the rail to the tie block and the screw spikes serving also to fasten the rail block to the tie plank. The depth of the groove in the rail block is made such that the flange of each screw spike engages the rail flange at one point, the upstanding portion of the rail block serving to support the flange of the-screw spike at all other points.

This and the other features of my invention will be more clearly understood by reference to the accompanying drawings in which- Figure 1 is a plan view of one end of a tie and a portion of the rail. Fig. 2 is a crosssectional view taken on line 22 of Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the tie showing the rail in cross-section.

Referring to these views, in which the same reference characters are applied to corresponding parts, the wooden tie plank is shown at 11. This plank is treated with creosote or in some other way to prevent decay. As will be seen from the drawings, the plank is of the standard width of eight inches, but is only about three inches in thickness,much less than that of the ordinary tie now in use. Upon the tie plank at either end is mounted the wooden tie block 12.

It will be seen from Figs. 2 and 3 that the tie block is provided with a groove or depression across the upper surface, which is of about the depth of the edge of the flange of the rail 13. The result is that when the screw spikes 1414 are driven in the positions shown, the flange 15 of each screw spike will engage the flange of the rail on the side toward the rail and at all other points the flange of the screw spike will have the support of the upstanding portion of the rail block. Thus in Fig. 1 I have shown subtended in dotted lines the angle 16 through which the flange of the screw spike is supported by the upstanding part of the rail block. The under side of the flange of the screw spike is provided with a fillet or bevel to fit the edge of the rail flange. It is desirable that holes should be bored through the railblock and into the tie plank to receive the screw spikes as they are screwed home, and it is desirable also to countersink the upper end of the hole through the rail block to receive the filleted under side of the flange of the screw spike. The counter-sinking of the holes for this purpose may, however, be omitted, if desired, because as the screw spike is drawn downwardly while being inserted, the flanged head of the spike may be depended upon to wedge a seat for itself in the upper surface of the rail block.

Some of the important advantages of this construction will now appear. In the first place, the tie of my invention saves a large percentage of the wood necessary in the standard ties now generally in use. Wood suitable for railway ties is becoming very scarce and very expensive. A saving of forty or fifty per cent. of the amount of wood in each tie is a matter of very great importance. There is a peculiar wear of the rail upon the standard tie by which the rail gradually cuts into the tie. This is'due no doubt in part to the pounding of the rolling stock as it moves over the rails, and due in part also to the slight lateral movement of the rail upon the tie. The lateral thrust is very pronounced upon curves where the centrifugal effect of the fast moving trains acts upon the outer rail to force it to the outside a matter above the uppersurface of the tiewhere they are wholly unsupported. As the rail flange, particularly on curves, presses against this upstanding portion of the spikc,,,

a very considerable leverage causes the spike to be bent over and thus to loosen its grip upon the rail. The spikes may be driven home in order to tighten their grip upon the rails a few times when the hole in the tie becomes. so large that the spike no longer holds. The spike may then be driven in a new place, or a larger spike may be driven into the old hole. However, these expedients afl'ord only temporary relief and before long the tie must be removed and a new one substituted in its place. It is frequently necessary also to remove ties which are otherwise in good condition because of the serious cutting of the rail flange into the wood of the tie. These various difficulties are overcome by the construction which I have invented' p In so far as the cutting of the tie is concerned, the rail block 12 takes all of the wear of the rail flange. If the tie block becomes worn or cut, it is only necessaryto remove the-screw spikes and to slip the old rail block out of place in the direction of the v rail, whereupon a new rail block may be slipped into the place of the old one, the screw spikes are replaced and the whole repair is completed. Furthermore, the construction which I haveinvented minimizes the wear of the rail flange upon the rail block and also prevents the rail from loosening the grip of the clamping means upon it. The groove in the rail block fits the flange of the rail quite closely thus preventing the rail from having a slight freedom of move ment within the groove. Such freedom to move sidewise gives the rail flange an opportunity to wear a larger opening. The

Y tight fitting groove holds the rail flange securely in place and thus prevents it'from wearing an undesirably large opening. The screw spikes are driven close alongside the rail flange and as the heads or flanges of the screw spikes find a counter-sunk seat in the rail block at all points except where the rail flange itself is engaged, the rail is not given sufficient purchase on the screw spikes to bend them over at the upper end or to loosen them within the rail block or tie plank. I

The tie plank may bemade of soft and inexpensive wood, whereas the rail blocks, if desired', may .be made of hard wood better adapted to withstand the wear of the rail flange and better adapted also to give firm and unyielding support to the screw spikes. r g

A very important advantage of the construction which I have invented lies in the fact that, it is unnecessary to disturb the road bed or the bedding of the particular tie in order to keep the track in alinement and repair,that is to say, the tie plank 11 is bedded in the road bed oncefor all and this part of the tie remains undisturbed in place while the rail blocks are changed or ,adjusted. With the ordinary construction now in use, it is necessary to remove the whole tie in order to make the replacement necessary on account of the cutting of the rail. The expense of removing the tie and replacing it and then tamping'the road bed to giveto' the new tie proper support, is very considerable. thermore, of disturbing the road bed, so that It has the result, fura large amount of work is. constantly necessary to. keep the tracks level and in aline ment.

I am aware that attempts have been made to overcome some of the objections to which I have called attention by the use of metal tie plates intended to be placed between the rail flange and the standard tie. Such metal tie plates do not give to the rail the firm and unyielding support which can be secured by the use of hard wood rail blocks and screw I spikes which form a part of the combination of my invention. The metal tie plate has a considerable movement upon the wooden tie and causes much wear. The metal tie plate has fixed openings through which the. spikes may be driven and there is thus placeda limitation upon the number of positions in which the spikes may be driven into the wood of the tie. Furthermore, the steel tie plate, if it have an area suflicient to reduce in any appreciablemanner the amount of wear upon the tie, gives such a solid support'to. the rail that the track is not sufliciently resilient with the result that the jar upon the rolling stock is increased to an ex tent such that travel is uncomfortableand f such that the cars and locomotives are rapidly jarred to pieces. All of the objections to. such metal tie plates are overcome by the construction. which I have invented, and furthermore my invention provides for the easy removal of the piece upon which the wear, any, occurs and the substitution of a new piece, whereaswith the metal tie plate,

the wearof the tie plate upon the wooden tie eventually becomes such that the tieitself must be removedand replaced at large: expense and to the detriment of the roadbed, as previously pointed out.

In the drawings I have shown at 17 an abutment plate fastened to the tie plank 1 1' by the lag screws 18, 18. This abutment plate maybe of'wood or of metal. Its purpose isto give support to the rail block par-- ticul'arly on the outside. of curves against the lateral'thrust'ofthe outer rail and rail block.

Having thus described in some detail the best form of my invention known to me at this time, I wish it to be understood that I do not mean to limit myself to precise details of construction, the scope of my invention being indicated in the appended claim, wherein I assert my invention to reside in:

I claim- The combination of two rails, a soft wooden tie plank, a hard wooden rail block near either end of the tie plank, each tie block having a shallow groove about the depth of the edge of the flange of the rails formed in its upper surface for snugly receiving the flange of one of said rails, and

screw spikes each having a screw threaded shank, a filleted flange and a polygonal head screwed through the rail blocks and into the tie plank in positions such that the under side of the spike flange engages the rail flange on one side and is bedded in the up standing portion of the rail block at all other points.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 20th day of July, A. D. 1910.

HENRY L. HOLLIS.

Witnesses:

LYNN A. WILLIAMS, LEONARD E. Boson.

Gopies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. G. 

